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Author Topic: Random Stuff Part II  (Read 1217845 times)

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SwitchedFromStarcraft

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4225 on: May 27, 2015, 01:45:10 pm »
+1

Someone announced that he's an uncle again as his nephew was just born.

I was about to respond jokingly, "Did you stop being an uncle?" But I didn't know him enough to rule out that perhaps he had a sibling whose child died, which would make him no longer an uncle.

Unlikely, but I'm not about to open that door of pain just for a gag.

Good choice, and I applaud your sensitivity. You've made me curious though.

I am not a parent, but it is my belief that you never stop being a parent, once you are one.  If you only had one child, and the child died, are you really no longer a parent?  Similarly, do your brothers really quit being uncles, and your sisters quit being aunts?

On a semi-related note, there was a NC State men's basketball player back in the 70's who was quoted at press conference as saying "my sister is having a baby and I'm waiting to find out if I am an aunt or an uncle".
« Last Edit: May 27, 2015, 01:47:13 pm by SwitchedFromStarcraft »
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Kuildeous

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4226 on: May 27, 2015, 02:37:50 pm »
0

I am not a parent, but it is my belief that you never stop being a parent, once you are one.  If you only had one child, and the child died, are you really no longer a parent?  Similarly, do your brothers really quit being uncles, and your sisters quit being aunts?


Hard to say. When a child grows up and even dies before the parent, the parent would certainly still claim to be a parent. I suppose the same would be true for uncles.

If you go by the strictest of definitions, then a definition based on another person would no longer apply if that person dies, but that would be a callous thing to say. I would never be so pedantic to say, "Sorry, Bruce Wayne, but you're no longer a son since both your parents died." Mostly because I wouldn't want to get punched.

What bugs me is that there is no gender-neutral term for uncle/aunt. We have parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and great-grandparents, but a mixed group of parents' siblings would be uncles and aunts. A mixed group of siblings' children would be nephews and nieces. I did start referring to my sisters-in-law's children as niephces. I don't think it's going to catch on, though.

Also, why no gender-specific form of cousin?
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Awaclus

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4227 on: May 27, 2015, 02:48:00 pm »
+1

What bugs me is that there is no gender-neutral term for uncle/aunt. We have parents, children, siblings, grandparents, and great-grandparents, but a mixed group of parents' siblings would be uncles and aunts. A mixed group of siblings' children would be nephews and nieces. I did start referring to my sisters-in-law's children as niephces. I don't think it's going to catch on, though.

What bugs me is that there are no gender-specific terms for uncle and uncle. We do in Finnish and it makes translation awkward at times.
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Witherweaver

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4228 on: May 27, 2015, 03:01:44 pm »
+1

You mean whether you're referring to a man's uncle or woman's uncle?  Why would that be necessary?
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Kirian

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4229 on: May 27, 2015, 03:02:45 pm »
+1

A mixed group of siblings' children would be nephews and nieces. I did start referring to my sisters-in-law's children as niephces. I don't think it's going to catch on, though.

The term for that is "niblings," apparently coined in the 50s.
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Kuildeous

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4230 on: May 27, 2015, 03:08:25 pm »
0

A mixed group of siblings' children would be nephews and nieces. I did start referring to my sisters-in-law's children as niephces. I don't think it's going to catch on, though.

The term for that is "niblings," apparently coined in the 50s.

That is truly awesome. Why has this never reached broader knowledge?
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Witherweaver

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4231 on: May 27, 2015, 03:15:17 pm »
+2

It kind of sounds like something you may want for a midday snack.
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Awaclus

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4232 on: May 27, 2015, 03:36:24 pm »
0

You mean whether you're referring to a man's uncle or woman's uncle?  Why would that be necessary?

Obviously the differentiation is made between your mother's brother and your father's brother. I don't think it's necessary.
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eHalcyon

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4233 on: May 27, 2015, 03:36:33 pm »
+3

In Cantonese (and almost certainly Mandarin too, but I can't confirm that), there are different terms depending on whether the relative is from your mother's side of the family or your father's side of the family.

On a completely different note,





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Witherweaver

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4234 on: May 27, 2015, 04:04:38 pm »
0

You mean whether you're referring to a man's uncle or woman's uncle?  Why would that be necessary?

Obviously the differentiation is made between your mother's brother and your father's brother. I don't think it's necessary.

You could just say maternal or paternal.  There's not one for grandfather   either.
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Kuildeous

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4235 on: May 27, 2015, 04:07:53 pm »
0

Obviously the differentiation is made between your mother's brother and your father's brother. I don't think it's necessary.

I can see it being pretty useful, though. We insert "maternal" or "paternal" when talking about grandparents when it's necessary. I suppose one could say "maternal uncle," though that just sounds funny, and you might as well just say "mother's brother." Having one word could streamline it just a bit.

I'm more bugged by a lack of distinction between the siblings-in-law. If I tell you about my sister-in-law, then am I talking about my wife's sister or my sibling's spouse?

And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.
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sudgy

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4236 on: May 27, 2015, 04:13:16 pm »
0

And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.

Brother-in-law-in-law?
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theory

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4237 on: May 27, 2015, 04:25:29 pm »
+6

Obviously the differentiation is made between your mother's brother and your father's brother. I don't think it's necessary.

I can see it being pretty useful, though. We insert "maternal" or "paternal" when talking about grandparents when it's necessary. I suppose one could say "maternal uncle," though that just sounds funny, and you might as well just say "mother's brother." Having one word could streamline it just a bit.

I'm more bugged by a lack of distinction between the siblings-in-law. If I tell you about my sister-in-law, then am I talking about my wife's sister or my sibling's spouse?
Chinese (and probably some other languages too) distinguishes between all of these family members, which makes communication clearer but also makes learning the language harder.

Quote
And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.
Yes, but technically you are co-[_]-in-law.  For example rrenaud's sister is my wife, rrenaud is my brother-in-law, and rrenaud's wife is my co-sister-in-law.  Whereas my brother's wife is merely my sister-in-law.  Practically most people aren't aware of this distinction so knowing it is primarily helpful for lecturing people on forums about it and looking like a pedantic ass.
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Kirian

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4238 on: May 27, 2015, 05:01:27 pm »
0

Obviously the differentiation is made between your mother's brother and your father's brother. I don't think it's necessary.

I can see it being pretty useful, though. We insert "maternal" or "paternal" when talking about grandparents when it's necessary. I suppose one could say "maternal uncle," though that just sounds funny, and you might as well just say "mother's brother." Having one word could streamline it just a bit.

I'm more bugged by a lack of distinction between the siblings-in-law. If I tell you about my sister-in-law, then am I talking about my wife's sister or my sibling's spouse?
Chinese (and probably some other languages too) distinguishes between all of these family members, which makes communication clearer but also makes learning the language harder.

Quote
And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.
Yes, but technically you are co-[_]-in-law.  For example rrenaud's sister is my wife, rrenaud is my brother-in-law, and rrenaud's wife is my co-sister-in-law.  Whereas my brother's wife is merely my sister-in-law.  Practically most people aren't aware of this distinction so knowing it is primarily helpful for lecturing people on forums about it and looking like a pedantic ass.

Does it come up in legalese?
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theory

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4239 on: May 27, 2015, 05:49:39 pm »
+1

Possibly?  I don't do that area of law so I wouldn't know.  Knowing lawyers a contract would probably both use "co-sister-in-law" while also having some section that says "CO-SISTER-IN-LAW IS HEREINAFTER DEFINED AS ______"

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Tables

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4240 on: May 27, 2015, 06:47:28 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.
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Seprix

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4241 on: May 27, 2015, 06:56:45 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

I don't know, I just send texts from home all day, and I'm usually safe that way, since WiFi is awesome.
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Kuildeous

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4242 on: May 27, 2015, 07:02:33 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

Such plans still exist. I suspect it's for people who don't want or can't afford the higher-priced data plans. For a while, I had a phone plan where I had 150 minutes per month for free. Each minute after that would cost something (7 cents a minute, maybe?). Each text I sent or received was 20 cents. It seems unfair to get charged for unsolicited phone calls or texts, but I imagine it was easy to call the phone carrier and get some of that waived if you can make your case that the phone call was from some politician.

What I don't miss is waiting until 5 PM or even 11 PM for long-distance rates to go down. I wonder if land-lines still have that. I imagine that long-distance charges are less common--at least in America.
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Awaclus

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4243 on: May 27, 2015, 07:06:38 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

It's pretty common here that you have to pay for receiving texts and calls while you're abroad.
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Seprix

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4244 on: May 27, 2015, 07:19:31 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

Such plans still exist. I suspect it's for people who don't want or can't afford the higher-priced data plans. For a while, I had a phone plan where I had 150 minutes per month for free. Each minute after that would cost something (7 cents a minute, maybe?). Each text I sent or received was 20 cents. It seems unfair to get charged for unsolicited phone calls or texts, but I imagine it was easy to call the phone carrier and get some of that waived if you can make your case that the phone call was from some politician.

What I don't miss is waiting until 5 PM or even 11 PM for long-distance rates to go down. I wonder if land-lines still have that. I imagine that long-distance charges are less common--at least in America.

Who even calls a company to waive off a 1 minute 7 cent call? That's like that one man/woman everyone's encountered when working a minimum wage job, where you have to bend over backwards just to shave off a couple cents.
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ConMan

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4245 on: May 27, 2015, 07:41:23 pm »
+1

And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.

Brother-in-law-in-law?
Personally, I look forward one day to meeting my god-step-birth-father-in-law. I hear he's a nice guy.
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Kirian

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4246 on: May 27, 2015, 07:42:37 pm »
0

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

I don't know, I just send texts from home all day, and I'm usually safe that way, since WiFi is awesome.

....

You realize that text messages don't go through WiFi, right?  SMS uses the carrier network.  I truly can't tell if you were being facetious.
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Kirian

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4247 on: May 27, 2015, 07:44:51 pm »
0

And if I refer to my wife's sister as my sister-in-law, is it appropriate to call her husband my brother-in-law? I think it is, though he's really another step removed from me.

Brother-in-law-in-law?
Personally, I look forward one day to meeting my god-step-birth-father-in-law. I hear he's a nice guy.

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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4248 on: May 27, 2015, 08:59:09 pm »
+1

I was just reading some stuff and came across something implying that some people have to pay to receive texts and phone calls. Is that actually a thing anywhere in the world? It sounds pretty insane if it's true.

I don't know, I just send texts from home all day, and I'm usually safe that way, since WiFi is awesome.

....

You realize that text messages don't go through WiFi, right?  SMS uses the carrier network.  I truly can't tell if you were being facetious.

Depends on your plan. My dad has a plan whereby he can only send/receive texts over wifi.
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Re: Random Stuff Part II
« Reply #4249 on: May 27, 2015, 11:57:17 pm »
0

I'm fairly certain in the US it's the norm to pay for phone calls received on a cell phone.  As in, it eats up your minutes.

At least, it was when I lived there.
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